May 2, 2013
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Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, / Brenna Norman, AP

by Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY

by Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY

Count another Republican out in the race for Iowa's upcoming open Senate seat. State Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said today he won't run for the seat now held by Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, who is retiring. Northey follows Rep. Tom Latham and Lieutenant Gov. Kim Reynolds in declining to enter the contest.

An open Senate seat in the state hasn't come up since 1974, but so far, no Republican has jumped into the pool for a campaign that will be targeted by both national parties as they fight for control of the Senate.

Democrats have 21 seats to defend next year, while Republicans have 14. The GOP needs a net gain of six seats to win majority control in the Senate. Democratic retirements including Harkin, South Dakota's Tim Johnson, Montana's Max Baucus and West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller have buoyed Republican hopes for pickups.

Rep. Steve King has been considering a run for several months. On Wednesday, he told the Iowa Republican, an online political news site, that he is using this week's congressional recess to spend time in the state trying to come to a decision. "I've said for several weeks now that it wouldn't be very long,'' King said. "I feel like I'm a carpenter's level on the arm of a rocking chair and it just keeps going back and forth. â?¦ I owe Iowans an answer.''

Several state legislators are considering campaigns if King does not run, Robinson said. "Everyone and their brother says, I'm intrigued by it, I might look at it, but no one is actually saying 'I'm going to do it,' '' he said. "A lot of people, myself included, are all anxious to get a candidate, and this is kind of a frustrating process from the Republican side,"

King typically spends a lot of time discussing political decisions, Robinson says. But his fundraising doesn't show that he's moving toward a big campaign: He has raised just over $93,000 this year. "It's not like he's taking advantage of the speculation out there. It's gotten to a point where the Steve King process is not good for Steve King. He needs to find a way to deal with it," Robinson said.

Other Iowa Republicans said there is no rush to find a candidate, although Democrats appear to have united behind Rep. Bruce Braley. Braley was endorsed by Harkin last month and has reported raising more than $1 million so far.

He's not scaring Republicans out of the race, said Doug Gross, a longtime Republican fundraiser and former candidate for governor. Rather, they choose not to run based on their personal situations and because "the federal government is perceived as toxic and dysfunctional,'' he said in an e-mail. "These are can-do folks who like what they do now. We'll come up with a candidate that will be very competitive."

"We're 18 months from the election so I don't see any fundraising disadvantage in Iowa Republicans taking some time to identify their candidate. The commitment to victory is already here and the money will follow," said David Fischer, co-chair of the Iowa GOP. "It's to our advantage for Iowa Republicans to take some time and be diligent in identifying our nominee."

Both national parties will target the Iowa seat, given the Democratic majority in the Senate could be overturned in the 2014 elections and outside groups will likely spend heavily. As a result, there is little need for Republicans to worry about having a candidate now, says Brook Hougesen of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "The idea that all candidates should declare this early in the cycle is a creation of the Washington media - and a flawed strategy.''

Robinson suggested it could be healthier for the GOP if potential candidates weed themselves out before the primary process does it for them. "Maybe doing this now is better than a bunch of people jumping in the race and then having to sort it out."